“I’m going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don’t know, I’m an adjunct professor at Indiana University – Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.

Trump, as most of us know, is the credited author of “The Art of the Deal,” a book that was actually ghost written by a man named Tony Schwartz, who was given access to Trump and wrote based upon his observations. If you’ve read The Art of the Deal, or if you’ve followed Trump lately, you’ll know, even if you didn’t know the label, that he sees all dealmaking as what we call “distributive bargaining.”

Distributive bargaining always has a winner and a loser...

“In my life, I have watched John Kennedy talk on television about missiles in Cuba. I saw Lyndon Johnson look Richard Russell squarely in the eye and and say, “And we shall overcome.” I saw Richard Nixon resign and Gerald Ford tell the Congress that our long national nightmare was over. I saw Jimmy Carter talk about malaise and Ronald Reagan talk about a shining city on a hill. I saw George H.W. Bush deliver the eulogy for the Soviet bloc, and Bill Clinton comfort the survivors of Timothy McVeigh’s madness in Oklahoma City. I saw George W. Bush struggle to make sense of it all on September 11, 2001, and I saw Barack Obama sing ‘Amazing Grace’ in the wounded sanctuary of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

“These were the presidents of my lifetime...

“I’m sorry, but I look at the Trump administration’s behavior over the last week and the only word that accurately describes it is: stupid.” David Brooks, NYTimes, 1/30/25

“Refuse to be distracted from your important work.” Sharon McMahon

I listened to this podcast today. It’s a show I regularly listen to, but it was my first exposure to Sharon McMahon. I highly recommend this episode. And I’ve now subscribed to Sharon McMahon’s Here’s Where It Gets Interesting.

Aquilino Gonell is an immigrant and former sergeant in the Washington DC Capitol Police force. Below is an excerpt from his recently published op-ed piece in The NY Times. Worth the full read:

“For my efforts doing my duty as a Capitol Police sergeant, I was beaten and struck by raging rioters all over my body with multiple weapons until I was covered in my own blood. My hand, foot and shoulder were wounded. I thought I was going to die and never make it home to see my wife and young son.

Over the last four years, it’s been devastating to me to hear Donald Trump repeat his promise to pardon insurrectionists on the first day he’s back in office. “It will be my great honor to pardon the peaceful protesters, or as I often call them, the hostages,” he said in a speech last year...

Someone asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:

“A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh...

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day brings to mind so very many concerns, so many issues both historical, institutional, and still in dire need of being addressed by our entire society.

But I continue to wonder if the nature of humanity is such that equality and “justice for all” are truly possible. MLK, Jr. said that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I will admit that I fear that the arc of humanity’s nature bends further towards injustice with each passing day.

And today, one where the United States of America brings a convicted felon to highest seat of its governmental power, a petty figure driven by vengeance, is not a day that believes any better of humanity’s nature.

We have been travelling, this time to St. Croix. A lovely island, with very warm people, and a contagiously relaxed vibe. We’ll likely go back, but at a different time of year.

As for the diving, well, I made a rookie mistake and really should have researched better. We were not there at a good time of year, with prevailing “Christmas Winds” making for pretty treacherous shore entries and exits. We got in some diving without serious injuries, but getting in/out wasn’t necessarily pleasant. When we headed to Frederiksted, the west side of the island, for its calmer waters and the highly recommended pier, it was always busy with cruise ships–and diving isn’t allowed when ships in port at the pier. So it wasn’t really a successful dive trip...